Who is Father Christmas, you ask? My name is Mike and I live in Manahawkin, NJ. Ocean Acres to be exact. I started playing Santa in 2024 as a favor to a family friend. I had started growing my beard the year before for No Shave November. While she was cutting my hair, on a whim, she asked me if I would want to play Santa here at the salon.

Yes, I go to a salon.

Anyway, I said of course. I started letting the beard grow longer and began looking for my first red suit. My son’s girlfriend just so happened to have an old suit I could borrow. When I say old, it was very old. There were rips and tears that came with time. It’s a good thing I was what they call a real bearded Santa, not a theatrical bearded one. I have never heard it called that before. Not until I put my name out there on social media did I learn that. But man, once I did, my Facebook site blew up. But that’s for another blog.

Anyway, it’s a good thing I did not need the fake beard and wig, because they were so yellow, there was no way I could pass as Santa.

So after sewing up all the rips and tears, i put on the red suit, and away we went.

I did my first photo shoot a couple of weeks before Christmas, and even got a call from my American Legion. Seemed they had a person whose original Santa had gotten sick, and they were in a pinch. I sat for a private party at their home and met Enzo. He was a very cool kid. He met me at the door and helped me hand out presents.

I had such a great time with both events that I immediately went out and purchased a brand new custom suit and dove headfirst into my newfound role.

Here’s to the beginning of a great new adventure.

Who is Father Christmas, you ask? My name is Mike and I live in Manahawkin, NJ. Ocean Acres to be exact. I started playing Santa in 2024 as a favor to a family friend. I had started growing my beard the year before for No Shave November. While she was cutting my hair, on a whim, she asked me if I would want to play Santa here at the salon.

Yes, I go to a salon.

Anyway, I said of course. I started letting the beard grow longer and began looking for my first red suit. My son’s girlfriend just so happened to have an old suit I could borrow. When I say old, it was very old. There were rips and tears that came with time. It’s a good thing I was what they call a real bearded Santa, not a theatrical bearded one. I have never heard it called that before. Not until I put my name out there on social media did I learn that. But man, once I did, my Facebook site blew up. But that’s for another blog.

Anyway, it’s a good thing I did not need the fake beard and wig, because they were so yellow, there was no way I could pass as Santa.

So after sewing up all the rips and tears, i put on the red suit, and away we went.

I did my first photo shoot a couple of weeks before Christmas, and even got a call from my American Legion. Seemed they had a person whose original Santa had gotten sick, and they were in a pinch. I sat for a private party at their home and met Enzo. He was a very cool kid. He met me at the door and helped me hand out presents.

I had such a great time with both events that I immediately went out and purchased a brand new custom suit and dove headfirst into my newfound role.

Here’s to the beginning of a great new adventure.